ABI Research: Samsung And Apple Owning Smartphone Profits
Of the top ten smartphone OEMs, only Samsung and Sony experienced sequential growth in shipments over 4Q'2011. Nokia witnessed a 40% sequential decline in shipments and may soon be passed by ailing RIM in shipments despite the BlackBerry maker's 20% sequential decline in shipments. "At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," says Michael Morgan, senior analyst, devices, applications & content. Sadly, we sort of find that impossible to imagine -- one has to wonder what would've happened had Nokia sided with Android instead of Windows Phone, which still can't get a grip in the U.S. consumer market.